Overview: Radon in Homes and Schools

February 23, 2010 

• Every Coloradan should be concerned – but not panicky – about radon. Everyone’s goal should be to reduce their family’s radon exposure, and the best way to do that is by testing your home and installing a mitigation system if radon exceeds the EPA recommended action level of 4.0 picocuries per liter of air.  
• Requiring schools to test for radon gives them the data they need to make informed decisions about how to address any radon issues they may have. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment provides information, consultation and tools to help schools with this task. 
• Parents concerned about radon in the schools should talk to their local school board to learn how the school plans to address the problem. And remember that children can spend more than twice as much time at home as they do in school. We urge all parents to test their homes for radon and take control over that potential exposure pathway.

• Radon is unpredictable and highly site-specific. It can be highly concentrated in one part of a building, and completely absent in another part of the same building so it would be difficult to dictate a one-size-fits all mitigation approach. It’s better to require schools to test and then use the results to decide what will work best in each situation. In fact, by requiring schools to test for radon, Colorado exceeds Federal standards, which have no such requirement.
• Radon can be a serious health hazard, but it’s important to keep some perspective. First, remember that the majority of an individual’s exposure to radon is at home, so we urge all homeowners to test and mitigate. Second, although radon can be dangerous, it’s not like more common immediate health threats, such as carbon monoxide. The risk of exposure to radon is lung cancer. The risk of developing lung cancer increases with exposure to higher radon levels for a longer period of time.

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment